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joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam
The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.
Victims never receive this non-existent fortune but are tricked into sending their money to the criminals, who remain anonymous. They hide their real identity and location by using fake names and fake postal addresses as well as communicating via anonymous free email accounts and mobile phones.
Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!
Read more about such scams here or in our 419 FAQ. Use the Scam-O-Matic to verify suspect emails.
Click here to report a problem with this page.
Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:
- This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "abuja" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: finance <financedept29@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: bulaalhaji@yahoo.com
Date: Sat, 10 Nov 2012 07:09:08 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Reply now
Federal Ministry of Finance
New Federal Secretariat Complex
Shehu Shagari Way,
Central Area Abuja Nigeria.
You are hereby informed that We received email this morning from Mr Fischer who said that he is your brother/partner,he said that we should use the below account info to transfer your $5m as you are out of the city.I have therefore cancelled your payment until I hear from you.
Best Regards
Alhji Bulla
Note: Below is A/C Information sent by Mr Fischer :
A/C #USD114-1025567-8,
Bank Name: Standard Chattered Bank
Swift Code:SCBL 11K111.
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Anti-fraud resources:
